Life In the Perspective of Varice Kingsford
by mashpotatobunny
Summary: Ever wondered what that ditzy Varice Kingsford was thinking about during parts of the book Emperor Mage? Well, this story is about Varice Kingsford's every thought in every part that you saw her in the book! Chapter Two uploaded!!
1. Reuniting with Arram

Hey!  It's Ja-chan (former lilsweetcherryblossom, a.k.a. Cherry) with a Tamora Pierce story!  Yay!  This one, obviously, is about Varice Kingsford.  If you haven't read the little songfic (Miss You) that goes before it, I think you should because I think it goes great with this story.  It's currently not on Fanfiction.net because I'm trying to fix it so I can have italics on it.  You can read it on my website though.  I know not a lot of people like Varice, so I try to make her less snobby than what most people would think, so they could maybe see stuff in her POV.  I hope you like this story and I hope you review!

Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns all the characters, except for the ones that you never heard of like Catherina and Aden.

~*~*~  – time change

~~~~~  – begin/end of chapter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Life In the Perspective of Varice Kingsford**

**By Ja-chan**

Chapter One – Reuniting With Arram 

I bolted up in my bed.  For once, it wasn't because of those awful nightmares.  Something about today felt special…  Something that I don't remember! Oh pooh!  I reached over to my nightstand, searching for my hairbrush when I hit my picture frame.  Luckily, I put a non-breakable spell on it before or else the precious glass would have shattered.  I bent down to pick up the picture, and found myself staring in the handsome face of my former lover, Arram Draper.  Wait a minute…  That's it!  The people from Tortall are coming here for some peace thing, and it's rumored that Arram is coming with them!

I hopped out of goose-feathered bed and quickly brushed my hair.  I pulled my plush velvet curtains and stepped out onto my balcony to look for the sun.  It was just above the horizon.  The sky was golden with sunlight, with touches of blue on the edges of the sky.  I gazed at the beautiful sunrise for a while, then got ready for the huge imperial welcome party.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I added the final touches to my makeup and stood up to open my huge oak wardrobe.  I pushed through my loads of silk, velvet, and satin dresses to find the dress I was looking for.  I finally found the dress at the back of the wardrobe, wrapped in paper to keep it safe from dust.  I gingerly took off the now dusty paper, and stared at the dress in awe.  It was a northern-style rose-petal pink silky dress that was given to me from Arram those many years ago.  I put it on carefully and stood in front of the mirror to look at my appearance.  I know this sounds really vain of me, but I look _beautiful_.  Seriously…  I would knock every guy that looked at me off his feet.  I twirled slowly in the dress.  The dress was cut to draw attention to my thin waist and showed-off my perfectly curved figure.  Really, I look hot!  I strutted around my room a bit, trying to build a little confidence when my maid walked in on me.

"Lady Varice?" the 19-year-old girl, Catherina, asked shyly.  "His Highness would like you start working on setting up for the banquet this evening…"

"Yes, tell him I will be there in a minute," I replied from inside my dressing room.  "Would you carefully put this back in the wardrobe?  Thanks, Cat."  I took off the dress and gave it to Catherina, then put on a less fancy, yet still pretty dress.

"Yes, milady.  Right away, milady," she replied.  She gently placed the dress back into the wardrobe and rushed off.  I stepped out of the dressing room and put on some comfortable shoes.  Sure, heels would be nice, but not when I'm going to be working…  I ran to the mirror to check my appearance once more and walked off to begin my work.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Kadeem!  Bring this to the main cook, Bella," I shouted, shoving a sheet of directions to him.  The kitchen was buzz with activity.  "Hurry, everyone!  We only have 2 hours to complete this!  Quickly!  Quickly!"  I rushed over to look at the pastry mages forming a beautiful cake.  It was pretty simple today, just a 15-layer cake decorated with the finest icing, creams, and sweets of the realm.  It was plain cake with an exotic sweet and tangy fruit from the Copper Isles called pineapple between the layers of the cake.  It was covered with white frosting and topped with more pineapple and sweet candies.  I would have designed a fancier cake, but my head was in the clouds this week.

"Lady Varice, we have finished the food," announced one of the servants.  "Shall we go set up the outdoor banquet hall?"  I snapped out of my thoughts and nodded.

"Yes, please, Giolla," I replied and checked the food.  Each and every one of them has to be perfect or I'll make them do it ALL OVER again…  It may sound mean, but hey, I'm dedicated to my work!  Once everything looked okay, I rushed over to the banquet hall were the slaves were setting up chairs, tables, and decorations.  I gasped in amazement.  It was _beautiful_.  Well, of course.  Everything I come up with is nothing but beautiful.  But this… this was even better than usual.  It was marvelous.  It was gorgeous!  There aren't words to describe how wonderful the room looked.  I stood there and supervised the decorating, while I add some of my own touches.

"Lady Varice…" I turned to see a slave bowing down to me.

"Yes, Saidi?"

"His Imperial Majesty would like you to go get ready for the imperial welcoming party, milady."

"Yes, I will in a bit," I answered, stringing up some lights and lighting them up.  "Would you go get a hot bath ready for me?  And then come to my room in later to do my hair."

"Yes, milady.  Right away, milady," she answered quickly and ran off.  I strung up some more decorations and stood back to look at my work.  Absolutely breathtaking, I tell you… Absolutely breathtaking…

"Lady Varice?" asked Giolla again.  "Shall we set up the audience chamber now, as well?"

"Yes, of course now!" I exclaimed.  "If not now, when?!"

"Yes, lady.  I am sorry for asking a stupid question."

"It's okay, Giolla.  Don't apologize," I said gently.  "I'm just a little high-strung today.  Just hurry with the decorations.  I'm going to go get ready for this welcoming party."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I scrubbed myself vigorously, cleaning myself with the palace's finest fragrant soap.  I finally got out after about 10 more minutes of scrubbing and put on a robe.  I sat down at my vanity and began applying makeup.  Let's see now…  If I'm wearing a pink dress, I suppose pale pink eye shadow would work well.  I put a thin layer on and put on some pale blush.  Oh!  I can't forget that cute pink lipstick I just bought!  I smacked my lips together to even out the lipstick and looked at myself in the mirror.  God, I look gorgeous!  The men are just going to drool when they see me!

Let's see now… Where's that dress? Ah ha!  Here we go!  The dress I tried on this morning!  Still beautiful as ever, even with that slight wrinkle on the arm.  Fooey!

"AIDA!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.  The girl rushed in, hair in a mess, bowing at my feet.

"At… at your… service, mi…milady," she panted. 

"My dress has a slight wrinkle on the arm.  Would you mind ironing it out?"  I handed her my dress.  "Careful with it, mind you.  I'll have your head if it's ruined."  The girl shivered at my threat and hurried away to fix the dress.  Just as she left, my personal maid, Catherina came it.

"What was wrong this time, Lady Varice?" she asked, grinning.  "Spill something on it?"

I shook my head.  "Nope.  Had a wrinkle in it.  And I told you to call me Varice!  I'll have your head if you don't listen!"

Catherina smirked.  "I doubt you'll ever have one's head off… You're too afraid of death and blood!"

"Oh shut up, Cat…" I mumbled.

"What about your fear of rats and bugs?  Shall I bring you some t-" Before she could finish, I clamped her mouth together with my hands.

"Instead of talking so much, would you mind painting my fingernails?"  Catherina looked over me first, then went through my vanity, looking for the perfect nail polish.  She found out instantly.  After all, I DO have a lot of perfect nail polish…

"So what's today again?  Some peace signing with the Tortallans, right?" she asked curiously, slowly painting my nails a shade of pink a bit darker than my dress.

"Yeah.  It's rumored that my former sweetheart is coming with them."

"Is that so?  Arram Draper?  That gorgeous guy sitting on your nightstand?"

"Yes, that 'gorgeous guy.'  And by the way, that gorgeous guy is mine, so don't go fantasizing about him, you hear?"

She grinned widely and giggled softly behind her hand.  "Whatever you say, milady…"  

She continued to paint my nails as I drifted into deep thought.  I wonder if Arram's really going to come back today, after all those years…  I wonder if he'll recognize me, if he _does_ remember me.  What if he already married?  After all he's about 30 or something by now…  If he did marry, I wonder if-"

"Done!" exclaimed Cat, jolting me out of my thoughts.  If she noticed the fact I nearly jumped out of my skin, she didn't mention it.  "Want me to do your hair?"

"Yes, please!  Saidi was suppose to come up here about 10 minutes ago, but I guess she forgot…  And where's that Aida!  AIDA!!!!!"  Once again, Aida came rushing in holding my dress far in front of her, and bowed down in front of me.

"H-here's…your… dress, mi…milady…" she gasped.  "I-I just finished…"

"Thank you very much!  Put it on my bed, if you would.  And get my mage's robe too."  She did both, bowed, and left my room.

"Sheesh, Varice…  So harsh on the new girl…" Cat said, shaking her head as she curled my long blonde hair.

"She'll get used to it!  I'm doing her a favor and making her fast, you know!"

"Uh huh… Sure, Varice…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You're all set!" cried Cat, beaming.  "You really look great!"

"Thanks for your help, Cat," I said.  "Couldn't have done it without you."

"Of course you couldn't, dear," she mocked.  "You're a helpless noble lady.  What do you expect?"  She grinned like a Cheshire cat as I glared at her.  "Okay, okay… I was kidding… Didn't have to bore holes in my head!  Go knock Arram off his feet!  If he's there, that is…" I smiled softly at her and walked quickly towards the audience chamber.  Halfway there I was stopped.

"Hey, babe.  Wanna get a room?" a husky voice asked.  I turned to see some old man giving me these flirtatious looks.  That is just totally disgusting…

"No, I don't.  So if you would, leave me alone.  I have plenty of work to do right now," I said as calmly as I could and continued to walk on.  Thank Shakith he left me alone…  I continued to the audience chamber, until I finally got there.  Slaves dressed in nothing but a loincloth bowed and opened the grand French doors.  I took a deep breath and stepped inside…

I gasped at the magnificence of the room.  My creations never cease to amaze me…  The room was filled with people, not only with the regular Carthakis, but also Tortallans.  That reminded me that Arram might be here…  I walked up to the front of the room where Emperor Ozorne just finished introductions.

"To you, representatives of our royal cousins Jonathan and Thayet, we say, welcome to Carthak.  We pray that peace will reign between our lands and know that with such a distinguished company to smooth the way, peace is all but assured.  And now, there is food outside, and drink, music, and good company.  In your time among us, we have arranged for entertainment that we hope will arouse wonder and interest in our empire.  Enjoy all these things, please.  If you desire anything, only voice it to our servants.  Within reason it shall be granted you," said Ozorne.

Dismissed from the imperial presence, the Tortallans bowed as they backed up, until they were outside again.  Once they left the area, a gong sounded and a grinding noise filled the air.  Everyone, including myself, froze in place.  Slowly the walls that cut the audience chamber off from the antechamber sank into the floor.  Now Emperor Ozorne's dais commanded a view of the combined rooms.  Everyone bowed or curtsied deeply to His Highness on the golden throne.   He waved a hand; talk and movement pick up where they'd left off.

I began looking for Arram through the large crowd.  Where is he?  Is he even here at all?

"Hey!  Varice!" I turned abruptly searching for the person.  I sighed disappointed when I saw just plain old Aden Chilton.

"Hello, Aden," I said, trying to put on a smile.  "How are you doing today?"

"I'm great!" he exclaimed.  "Want to go sit with me?  We can talk about… stuff…"

"Sorry, Aden," I said, trying to sound honestly apologetic.  "I… already have to meet someone else here."

He frowned.  "Well, I'll be over there," he said pointing to the seats by the slave carrying my famous creampuffs, "if you need me.  See you later…" I sighed in relief when he was out of hearing range.  Aden can get annoying…  

I continued to look for Arram.  My heart skipped a beat when I finally spotted him.  He was still handsome as ever.  He was sitting by the Tortallan representatives and… with a young girl, a cute one, at that.  The girl had smoky brown curls, and was about maybe 15.  She was wearing twilight-blue silk gown with silver embroidery that showed off her gray-blue eyes.  Sure, she was just a teenager, but for some reason… she feels like a threat…

Should I walk over there?  _Yes,_ said an inner voice.  Does he remember who I am?  _He might, _said the inner voice again.  But then what if he hates me?  _What have you done for him to hate you?  _What if he has a new lover?  _You can still say hi._  I finally decided that it wouldn't hurt to talk to Arram, even if it was just for a few minutes.  After all, what's the worst that could happen?  I took a deep breath and walked over.

"_Arram_," I said when I reached his table.  Everyone looked around.  I stepped up a little closer, holding out my hands to Arram.  I saw everyone examined me, especially the pretty girl, who suddenly sighed.  Arram rose with a surprised look on his face.  A short redhead slid into the place he just left.

"Varice?"

I smiled.  "The same old Varice Kingsford.  I'm surprised to still remember me."  And I am surprised…and glad…

Arram kissed one of my hands, then the other, and continued to hold them both.  "How could I forget you my dear?  You're lovelier than I remember.  You must tell me _everything_ I've missed.  What are the changes in the palace, and at the university?  Are you married; may I kill your husband-" I laughed and leading him to a niche across the room, but not before looking back at the table.  The young girl scowled at me, then quickly drew her attention back to her party.  Arram sat and pulled me down next to him.  Next thing you know, I'm throwing my arms around his neck, pulling him close to me, feeling his warmth and breathing in his wonderful scent of spices, soap, and clean clothes.

"I missed you so much," I whispered, tears starting to form in my eyes.

"I missed you, too, Varice." He pulled me even closer to him, and we stayed this way for a few minutes.  Finally, he pulled back to look at me.  "You're more beautiful than I remember," he murmured as his kissed my lips.  I kissed him back, savoring his sweet taste.

"I know," I said giggling, when I broke the kiss.  "You told me when we met a few minutes ago."

"And no matter how many I say it, it's always true," he said grinning, still holding onto my hands.

"You still like to flatter people, don't you, Arram?"

"Just you," he said.  "And by the way, it's _Numair_.  Arram Draper is such an…ordinary name for a mage, don't you think?"

"Whatever you say, A- I mean, Numair," I said, correcting myself.  "So who was that pretty girl sitting next to you?  New girlfriend?"

He turned crimson.  "W-what?!  Girlfriend?  N-no way!" he exclaimed.  

I grinned, but was a little hurt.  What if he really DID like her?  "If she isn't your girlfriend then who is she?  And why did you turn so red?"

"She… she's my new student.  Her name's Veralidaine Sarrasri, but she likes to be called Daine.  She's a powerful Wildmage," he explained.  "She's a really great student.  Learns quickly and always strives to learn even more."

"Ah, I see," I said slowly.  "So she isn't your girlfriend?"

Ar- I mean, Numair turned red again.  "I said NO!"

"Okay, okay," I said, grinning.  "That's just a plus for me."  I kissed his cheek.

"So what's happened at the university?  The palace?  Are you married?  D-"

I laughed again.  "One question at a time, dear," I requested.  "First of all, I have no husband and no boyfriend, so I'm all yours."

He grinned.  "Well, that's a relief!  Now tell me about the university and your studies…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heheh… Like the chapter?  I hope so.  I'm trying my best to add all the actually events from the book into this fan fic.  I also tried to make Varice a little snobby and conceited, but I also wanted some niceness in there because I don't really believe that she's all that snobby.  If you wanted her snobbier, I'm sorry, but it's not going to be that way…  Anywho, the next chapter is going to be about the Tortallan's tour of the menagerie.  If you could, review!! I would love constructive criticism. 


	2. A Tour of the Royal Menagerie

Hey!! I'm back!  Yay!! Gak!! I can't believe it, but I got reviews!! *gasp* And 7, too!! I'm so proud!!  Hahaha… Anywho, I would like to thank Rhaspody, ally, thekeeperofwords, flack, Sabrina, and someone who reviewed but didn't leave a name!  I especially want to thank Squirrel Maiden of the Green because she's my beta-reader!  Without her, my story would be kinda… weird and Mary-Sue-ish.  ^_^; Once again, if you haven't read my little songfic that goes before this story, I think you should read it.  It's not on Fanfiction.net though because of the italics problem I'm having… You can read it on my website.

(person didn't leave a name…) – Yeah, I do suppose Tortallans or Carthakis use those words… I'll use different words from now on.  And about the title… I'm a little attached to it right now, but I'll probably change it later on in the story. 

Rhaspody – I know… I'm trying not to make her conceited and ditzy cuz it seems unreal… even though I DO know some people at my school who act like that… *smirk*

Thekeeperofwords – I don't really like Varice, but I don't hate her either.  Don't worry though.  I'm all for the Daine and Numair thing, so this story is going to turn out like that.  ^_^ That's how the real story ended like anyway.

Thank you all for your great suggestions!! I really appreciate you guys giving me criticism!!  I also thank you guys for reading the story, and actually liking it!!  ^_^ If I forgot to mention someone, I'm really, really sorry!!  It doesn't mean I don't appreciate you.  It just means I forgot… ^_^; In this chap, I tried to make Varice less ditzy because, like I said before, it sounds a bit unreal to make her TOO ditzy… Well, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns all the characters, except for the ones that you never heard of like Catherina and Aden.

~*~*~  – time change

~~~~~  – begin/end of chapter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Life In the Perspective of Varice Kingsford**

**By: Ja-chan**

Chapter Two – A Tour of the Imperial Menagerie 

Numair got down on one knee.  "Varice Kingsford, will you mar-"

"VARICE!" I bolted upright from my bed.

"What?  Who?"

"Time to wake up dear," said a sickly sweet voice.  I rubbed my eyes and found Catherina sitting at the foot of my bed.

"Oh, it's you," I said sleepily.  I turned to look on my side.  "Where's Numair?"

"He left to eat breakfast with the other Tortallans," she replied.  Suddenly, she edged closer to me and whispered, "Did you do it last night?"

I yawned.  "Do what?"

"Well, you know…" she said, gesturing this and that.  Slowly, I started to comprehend.

"Catherina!" I said shocked.  "I didn't you know you had such a sick mind!"

She smirked.  "Well, did you?"

"NO!" I shouted, laughing.  I threw a pillow at her, and it hit her square in the face.

She sat there as the pillow fell to the bed.  "That…hurt," she said slowly.  "…You will pay!!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_10 minutes later_

Catherina lay on the floor panting as I stood about a foot or two from her.  I gasped for air, holding a now half-empty pillow.  Catherina slowly sat up, still breathing hard.

"I surrender," she said, throwing up her hands.  "For a noble, you're pretty good…" I grinned and walked over to her.

"Never underestimate, Varice Kingsford, my friend," I said proudly, as I offered her a hand.  She took it and the next thing you know, I'm sitting on the floor with her.

"Sure, Varice," said Cat grinning.  There was an abrupt knock on the door and in stepped a middle-age woman.

"Lady Varice, you remem-" She suddenly stopped as she looked up at the room.  "Oh my goodness gracious!  What in the name of Mynoss happened in here?!" She walked over and took a look at me.  "You're a big mess!  An-"

"We just had a pillow fight, Kali," I said, interrupting.  "So what where you going to tell me before you saw the mess?"  I stood up and started picking up feathers.

"Oh don't bother with this, Mistress," Kali said, taking the feathers out of my hand.  "I'll clean them up in a bit."

"Well, what was the message?" I asked impatiently.  I waved a hand; pale blue fire flowed from my fingertips to pick up a cluster of feathers near me and throw them away.

"You do remember about the tour you're giving the Tortallans today, right, Mistress?" she asked as she picked up feathers from around the room.

"That's right!" I exclaimed.  "I forgot all about it!"

"Well," Cat said, stepping a foot into my balcony, looking at the sun for the time, "you have about 20 minutes to get ready."

"I HAVE WHAT?!"

"Twenty minutes," replied Cat.  I screamed in alarm.  "I'll get the bath ready."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I jumped as someone knocked on the door.  Kali rushed over and answered the door.

"Good morning, Your Imperial Highness," Kali said humbly, curtsying gracefully.

"Good morning," he said.  "Is Varice ready yet?"

"I'll be right there, Your Highness!" I shouted, as I struggled with the white veil over my hair.  Cat rushed over and quickly fixed it.  I stepped into my green-heeled shoes and checked myself over in the mirror.  My hair is fantastic, my makeup's decent, my nails are lovely, and my dress is marvelous.  I look perfect!  I hurried over to Kaddar and curtsied.

"Good morning, Your Highness," I said politely.

"Good morning, Varice," he said cheerfully.  "Let's hurry before we are late."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We arrived as the Tortallans stood up from their breakfast.  I spotted Numair standing by his student, Daine.  I walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek, earning a smile from him and scowl from his student.

"I shall walk with His Grace," I told him regretfully, "but stay close, please.  You know so much more about animals than I do."

Duke Gareth bowed over my hand.  "Numair's loss is my gain, Lady Varice."  I smiled politely and took his arm.  Kaddar and I led the group through the jumble of paths that led past the formal garden and partway around the shore of the beautiful lake.  We walked for a while more, until we reached the wrought-iron gates that led to the imperial menagerie.  As we got in, Kaddar took Daine away for a personal tour, but not too far away that I wouldn't see them.  Just far enough for private conversation.  Not that I'm nosy or anything…

"Welcome to the imperial menagerie," I said, trying to sound cheerful and entertaining.  "Here, you find emperor's collections of all kinds of animals.  He _loves_ animals, so, as you can see, he provides them everything they need and want."  The Tortallans stared to their left, awed at the sight of the lions, who lie sunbathing at the bottom of a well (A/N: not a water well, mind you… A well as in a deep pit like the zoo might have…).

"Over here," I gestured to the right, "are the monke-"

"Chimpanzees," Numair corrected.

"Right," I said, blushing a bit.  How could I forget that?!  "Chimpanzees."  As if on cue, the chimps raced out towards the front of the huge cage, scurrying around on the giant, many-branched, and leafless "tree."  Numair walked over to the next cage, which contained a small island in the middle of a large, deep pond.

"These are macaques, right?" I nodded and walked over to link my arm through his, forgetting about Duke Gareth.

"Yes.  His Imperial Majesty got them 5 years ago from the Yamani Islands," I explained as I took his hand in mine.  "You should see the giraffes.  They are the most magnificent creatures I have every seen in my entire life."

"Really?  Where are they?" he asked.  I took him over to the tall giraffes' cage.  They were grazing on the leaves of a tree, not taking notice to us humans.

"Lady Varice," called Duke Gareth, walking over to us,  "I was wondering how many animals do you have this menagerie?  It seems like there are a million of them here!" 

"I'm going to go check on Daine while you talk to Duke Gareth," Numair whispered in my ear and kissed me on the cheek.  I regretfully let go of his hand and turned back to talk to Duke Gareth.

"Well," I said, thinking hard, "if I could remember correctly, there are more than 300 animals collected from every where in the realm.  There are maybe 40 to 50 species."

He nodded thoughtfully.  "Is it hard to take care of these animals?  If there are more than 300 animals, there must be a lot to do to feed them and take care of them properly."

"Well, I suppose it depends on which type of animal your taking care of.  I'm sure it quite easy though, since special slaves with bits of wild magic take care of them."

"Ah, I see," he said, walking over to the next cage to look at the tigers.  "Fascinating…  It must take a fortune to feed these beautiful animals, mustn't it?"

"Yes, it does," I replied.  "Emperor Ozorne must have the best meat for these creatures, like antelope and buffalo, so it is fairly expensive.  But then again, His Majesty is an emperor, so he has money to spare…" I laughed softly.  "Sometimes I think the emperor spends so much on these animals the country will go bankrupt!  It's really nice to have a place like this to go to though.  This might seem silly, but it's nice to talk to the animals when no one else will listen…" I turned to look at him.  "Does Tortall have a menagerie like this?"

"Yes, we do, but not as lovely as this one here," he replied, chuckling, still gazing at the orange tigers.  "The royal university of Tortall is trying to currently duplicate the habitats of the animals that are to be in the new menagerie, so it would be like visiting the actual site of the Copper Isles, the Yamani Islands, and other places.  It's quite grand, what those mages are doing…"

"Father!  Father, please come here!"

"I'm sorry to cut our conversation, but I must go to my son.  Thank you for showing me the animals.  It was a pleasure talking to you-"

"The pleasure's all mine," I said, smiling.  "I hope I'll get to talk to you later on."

"Yes, I hope we'll get to talk soon.  Now if you'll excuse me," he said, bowing.  I curtsied elegantly, and he left.  I stood there watching the animals for a minute or two more, then walked around the menagerie, trying to locate Numair.

"Spotted hyenas," I heard Numair say.  "From the grass plains of Ekallatum, far to the south.  Night hunters, for the most part – see the eyes?  They have the strongest bite of any mortal predator – it crushes even the bones of water buffalo.  Hyena packs are matriarchal – "

"Matri – what?" I heard Daine ask.  I groaned in disappointment.  I forgot about _her_.  I don't know why, but she dislikes me so much!  Sure, I flirt with her dear teacher a lot, but I don't see a reason why I should be hated.  But then again, a lot of women hate me for… well, being me…  I stood there and listened for Numair's or Daine's voice to follow.

"Their society is ruled by females.  Each pack is led by sisters," he explained.  It turns out I was only had to turn a corner to get to them.

"Sensible of them," Daine said, grinning up at Numair.  I walked up to them slowly, suddenly irked by how close they were standing next to each other.

"Excuse me," I said abruptly, smiling slightly at Daine.  "I'm sorry.  These animals aren't to be shown to visitors.  I don't know why the emperor keeps them, when he doesn't even like them…  Numair, Daine, please come back.  There's another part of the menagerie you haven't seen. " I took a last look at Daine, linked my arm through his, and led him away from the hyenas.  As we walked away, I could feel her glaring at the back of my head.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You keep immortals here as well?" asked Numair, putting his arm around my waist.

"Unfortunately, yes," I said, leaning into his warm body.

"I thought your uncle was allied with the Stormwings!" I heard Daine exclaim in the back of us.  I turned my head a bit to look at the girl and Kaddar, and listen in to their conversation.

"He is," replied the prince.  "The price of the pact with the Stormwing King Jokhun was that Queen Barzha and her mate Hebakh be kept here.  Believe me, she would have caused as much havoc in Carthak as Stormwings have in the north, if my uncle had not made the alliance."

Daine was trembling.  "What do you feed them?" she asked, shaking off Sir Gareth the Younger's restraining hand.  "Do you bring folk in and scare them, so they can live on that?  And these cages are too small.  The griffin can barely open its wings."  I heard her little dragon gibbering away in odd sounds.  I turned completely around and walked up to her.

"They don't need food, and they don't require more room," I said, impatiently.  How can she see sympathy for these terrifying creatures?  "You know these monsters don't fall ill and die.  Unless you kill one, they live forever.  Would you rather let them raid villages and destroy crops?"

"We mean no criticism of the way the emperor chooses to run his domain," said Duke Gareth apologetically, looking over at Daine to send her a silent message.  "Daine speaks only because of her bond with all creatures gives her a dislike of cages.  Your Highness, my lady, I regret to say I am not as young as I was.  Might we find someplace shaded, and sit for a moment?  Your sun is fierce, even this early."

"Yes, of course, Your Grace," I murmured, slipping my hand into Numair's once more, and led everyone through the gate and towards some shade.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay!  I'm done!  I read over some parts of Emperor Mage and the slaves/servants call Daine and others "Nobility."  I'm not going to put it like that because I find it a little odd…  Let's just say the slaves/servants that work for/with Varice call her "Lady" and stuff instead.  I find "Nobility" a bit… annoying…  Oh and by the way, Catherina is like Varice's really close friend, kinda like how Kel and Lalasa were, but Cat isn't as shy.  Next chapter is going to be a bunch of banquets and stuff.  ^_^ If you have any ideas for me, go ahead and send them to me @ rogue62143@yahoo.com.  I'll be happy to hear them!  And if you want me to e-mail you every time I post a chapter, put your e-mail address in your review.


	3. Author Note, Gomen gomen!

Hey everyone!  It's Jackie.  I'm so sorry this is not a chapter (for those who care)!! I've been pretty busy these past few weeks with school.  8th grade is more complicated than I thought it was going to be.  

And besides school, I have writer's block that is so huge, it could eat the earth… ^^;  I would be grateful to you if you helped me by giving me suggestions on the story.  I'm currently trying to write chapter 3, which is based on the first few banquets.  I'm having trouble with what to put in between the time of the banquets.  I was also wondering if I should add a new character.  The one I'm thinking of creating is supposed to be Varice's old best friend, but isn't anymore because of the Numair thing.  In other words, Varice and the girl both liked Numair, but Numair liked Varice better, so Varice and the girl became enemies.  Or something like that… I'm just trying to make this more interesting by giving Varice more "competition."  

So tell me what you think and what your ideas are because I am seriously stumped right now.  Hopefully I will get inspired soon as autumn and winter approaches, but for now, I need your help!!  So please help!!  My e-mail address is rogue62143@yahoo.com.  So please send in your ideas!! Thanks!!  And sorry once again for not updating!!  Oh yeah… For those who didn't know, this is definitely going to end as a Daine and Numair story… ^^;


	4. Update for the readers!

Dearest readers!

I apologize for leaving you at such a cliffhanger for a good 8 years! Thanks to a friendly reminder from a reviewer, I may be inspired to continue to write the fanfic. I just read everything and all the excitement from the Tortall series came back to me. Because it's been such a long time, I'll have to reread the series again. The plus side is that I'll be able to take note on what parts I can about Varice in more detail.

So there are two things that can happen. As mentioned earlier, 8 years has passed since I last updated. My writing style is slightly different now, so I'd like to ask for a vote from the readers (if there are still any of them left lol). The two options are:

I continued from where I left off with the possibility of discontinuity in the style of writing because I write differently now.

I rewrite the story, keeping the original premise and what's going on so far. Think of it as a revision of the story, and look at the current posted chapters as a rough draft.

Let me know what you think in the reviews. If enough people decide they want me to continue on with this, I will definitely do my best to start this up again :)


End file.
